Action under way to help Shropshire's homeless
At least 200 people are homeless in Shropshire, latest figures have revealed. With winter well under way, the next three months are the worst for those on the streets.
From today Shropshire Council will be providing temporary accommodation to anyone without shelter until March.
There are 200 people officially registered as homeless in the county, and while only 10 of them are thought to be sleeping rough at any one time, the numbers of "hidden homeless" off Shropshire Council's radar are likely to be much higher, a councillor has said.
Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow North, who once experienced homelessness himself, will be raising questions about the number of homeless people and what can be done to help them at a council meeting at Shrewsbury's Shirehall on Thursday.
Ahead of the meeting, cabinet member for housing, Malcolm Price, has released figures for the past five years which reveal numbers have varied between about 200 and 300 homeless people, with a peak of 309 in 2010/11.
However, the number of "interventions" – that prevent or resolve crises where people are facing homelessness – have risen over the years, from 538 in 2009/10 to 1,026 this year.
The estimated number of people actually sleeping rough at any one time has remained steady at about 10 to 13 people.
Councillor Price said emergency accommodation would be provided if the outside temperature was forecast to drop below zero for three consecutive nights by the Met Office.
"Additional to this Shropshire Council provide temporary accommodation to anyone who is known to be rough sleeping from December 15 until end of February," he said.
Similarly, the Bleak Midwinter project has been launched in Telford & Wrekin to provide extra emergency beds around the borough.
But Councillor Boddington said the number of rough sleepers were likely to be underestimated.
He said: "I know of one person who is permanently sleeping rough in Ludlow, two more who are frequently, and I have also heard there might be another. It's very difficult to estimate because these people are not part of the system.
"Having been homeless myself I know how difficult it is to back into everyday life," he said.
He said he was only homeless for about 10 days when he was living in the Shrewsbury area years ago, but he was rescued by the kindness of people he barely knew for which he will be forever grateful.
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